Protected Areas Not Always Harbour Crop Raiding Animals, Says Study on Indian Tiger Reserves

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Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca)
Image Credit: Kalyan Varma

Crop raiding by wild animals is a major issue that triggers human animal conflict and retaliatory killing in many parts of the country. But a new study about the human animal conflict around Protected Areas (PAs) in the country shows that protected areas not necessarily act as a source of crop raiders always. The finding is significant at a time when the establishment of new protected areas are opposed by sections of public and politicians saying that it will intensify the menace of crop raiding.

A survey conducted among 398 households which are situated within 10 kilometers of three major tiger reserves in the country – Ranthambhore, Kanha and Nagarhole – found that the rate of crop loss from crop raiders did not vary with the proximity to the PAs, showing that protected areas are not always sources for crop raiders.

“This (the results) may suggest crop raiders may not be limited to animals coming out from the PA, and perhaps some raiders may naturally reside outside the PAs”, says the study. Instead of the proximity, it is the forage availability that has increased the chances of crop loss in all these PAs, shows that results of the study, which is published in the Environmental Management Journal. “Factors related to forage availability for wildlife- the number of harvests per year, share cropping (growing crops on someone else’s land), number of crops per year and cropping months in a year all increased risk”, it says.

Analyzing the effectiveness of the mitigation efforts, the study found that two mitigation efforts – fencing and the use of guarding animals were most effective in decreasing risk of crop loss from crop-raiding animals.

Livestock Loss near Tiger Reserves

Loss of livestock is another major cause for human animal conflict near protected areas in India.  During the study, 13 percent of the households reported cattle loss from wild animals. Though tiger, Hyena, dhole (Cuon alpinus), Jackal, wild pig and even macaques were blamed fro livestock loss, leopard was identified as the most damaging. 

However, statistically examining the reasons, the study found that complaints of carnivores attacking livestock or human were more associated with people grazing animals and collecting forest produces from inside the protected areas. “Respondents reported that livestock losses occurred inside the PAs during the day, and fewer incidents occurred at night when the livestock were corralled near their homes or villages”, finds the study.

According to the findings of the study, simply stopping animal grazing inside the protected areas under study may decrease the rate of livestock loss. However, it heavily depends on the availability of grazing area outside the PAs.

Hostility towards animals

Contrary to the wide belief that people are hostile towards carnivores that attack the livestock, the study found that people are more hostile towards herbivores like wild pig which cause damage to crops.  “Households reported greater inclination to kill herbivores destroying crops or carnivores harming people, but not carnivores preying on livestock”, says the study.

Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)
Image Credit: Kalayan Varma

However, the hostility towards animals was different in the three tiger Reserves in which the study was carried out. According to the researchers, residents near Kanha National Park showed more inclination towards killing the problem animals as a solution to the hypothetical situations put in front of them, despite the lowest reported livestock deaths from this area. 

Residents near Ranthambhore National Park and Nagarhole National Park preferred to frighten or deter the animals.

Flawed Compensation Policies

Monetary compensation from wildlife officials is one of the major ways to suppress possible retaliatory killing of animals by people in areas of human animal conflict. However, the study found that 99 percent of the households which participated in the study received no compensation from authorities for losses. “There is an urgent need to corroborate losses reported by local residents to official records to identify gaps and improve compensation distribution to households reporting losses”, says the study.

Krithi K. Karanth and Ruth DeFries from Columbia University, Lisa Naughton-Treves from University of Wisconsin and  Arjun M. Gopalaswamy from University of Oxford co-authored the study.

Rajasthan had lagoons with evergreen vegetation, 55 million years ago, says paleontologists

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Rajasthan is known for the dry geography including the great Thar Desert.  However, it had lush evergreen vegetation with lagoons about 55 million years ago, says a new study, as palentologists have found the fossil of a coconut like fruit from the Kapurdi village in Barmer district of Rajasthan.

Fossil of a 55 million year old fruit Cocos Sahnii from
Kapurdi village in Barmer district of Rajasthan
(White arrows shows the eyes and black ones show ridges)
 Image courtesy: Anumeha Shukla, Rakesh C Mehrotra and Jaswant S Guleria

According to the study which is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Bioscience, the fruit has close relation with the present day coconut palms. It indicates that the environmental conditions in the area were supportive to the growth of coconut like palms which are usually found in the coastal ecosystems with relatively good rain fall, says the study.

“Its presence indicates warm, humid, possibly coastal conditions during the Early Eocene in Rajasthan, in contrast to the present-day dry and desertic climatic conditions occurring there. This finding, along with earlier described evergreen taxa at the site, indicates that the climate of Rajasthan was much better and luxuriant to support the growth of these evergreen taxa”, says the study.

Moreover, the new finding is also in line with earlier studies which have recovered fossils of evergreen vegetation, crabs, fishes, turtles and other aquatic organisms from here, indicating the existence of lagoon like ecosystems 55 million years ago.

According to the study, the uplift of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau could be the reasons which have contributed to a drastic change in the environmental conditions of the region, making it dry and arid.

A close relative of today’s coconut

The fruit fossil has two eyes and longitudinal ridges on the surface, making it similar to coconuts. The fibers of the husk are also longitudinally distributed as in a coconut fruit, says the study. Moreover, the 11.7 cm long and 5.8 cm wide fibrous fruit in ovoid shape resembles Cocos nucifera fruit than that of any other subspecies among the coconut palms.

The fruit was earlier identified as Cocos sahnii, when famous botanist Professor Kailas Nath Kaul found its fossil from the same area in 1951. But the study did not scientifically describe the species, as the fossil was an impression of the hard inner layer of the fruit on a stone. However, the new study has analyzed another fossil which has the mesocarp of the fruit (which is similar to the husk of the coconut fruit) intact, to establish its relation with coconut fruits.

Anumeha Shukla, Rakesh C Mehrotra and Jaswant S Guleria of Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow has conducted the study.

Sariska Tiger Reserve to get three more tigers; will they also end up with poachers?

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Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan, notorious for the high poaching rate which left it without tigers, will introduce three more new tigers as part of restoring tiger population here. 

A WWF ad on Tiger conservation.
Image Courtesy:WWF

According forest officials, the 866 sq km wide tiger reserve will thus have a total of eight big cats, including the five from the earlier phase of the ongoing relocation programme that has been progressing since 2008.

Sariska was a major tiger reserve in the country with a total 15 tigers before 2004. However, high poaching and poor management have brought down that to zero. According to a report submitted by Wild Life Institute of India, the tiger reserve had not a single tiger alive in its forest patches by 2005.

After getting lambasted by conservationists and international agencies, the authorities have decided to implement a restoration programme, as part of which, 5 tigers from Ranthambore National Park in the Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan were introduced here in 2008.

Improving the genetic pool

According to sources, now they are planning to bring more tigresses to Sariska, which is expected to naturally enhance the tiger population in the reserve.

It may also improve the genetic quality of the tiger population here, think experts. Presently three of the five tigers belong to the same father and two tigresses have the same mother. This may cause inbreeding or genetic disorders in the offspring as found in those born to genetically closer parents. Introduction of new tigers with different paternity will help improve the genetic diversity and survival rates of the upcoming natural tiger population here.  

Real threats still looming large

Authorities are also mulling over declaring the adjacent areas of the park as eco sensitive areas to curb human activities here to guarantee the safety of these striped cats. However it is yet to see if such measures will improve the fate of tigers here.

Map of Sariska National Park.
The balloon shows the position of Pandupole Hanuman Temple,
a pilgrim site inside the core area of the reserve

The presence of villages in the core zone and buffer zone of the reserve has helped the infiltration and operations of the poaching racket here in the past. Moreover, even after the commencement of the relocation programme, villagers have killed at least one tiger by poisoning it.

 The pilgrimage to the Pandupol Hanuman temple inside the reserve and the tourism activities related to the ancient fort and palace at the reserve are also disturbing the life of the cats here. Above all, state highway 29A and 25A pass through the reserve.

Introducing more tigers to Sariska is indeed important as part of conserving an endangered mammal which is at the verge of extinction. But until the authorities do not address the real grave issues here, the safety of the newly introduced cats  and the success of the programme will be at stake in long term. 

Will the new tigers also end up with the poachers? Share your thoughts in the comment.